Vertex Hopes Two Cystic Fibrosis Drugs Better than One

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (TheStreet) -- Vertex Pharmaceuticals(VRTX) is expected to report strong initial sales of its cystic fibrosis drug Kalydeco on Thursday as investors shift their attention away from the waning performance of the company's hepatitis C drug Incivek.

Soon after Vertex reports first-quarter earnings, investor attention moves to two, more important events that will have a far greater influence on the future direction of the company's stock price: 1) The first look at the potency of two new hepatitis C drugs; and 2) results from a mid-stage "combo" study of Kalydeco and the experimental drug VX-809 in cystic fibrosis patients with the most commonly occurring (and therefore most commercially lucrative) genetic mutation F508del.

Let's take a quick look at first-quarter earnings expectations before tackling the two important clinical catalysts:

Vertex will be reporting the first quarterly sales of its cystic fibrosis drug Kalydeco since the drug was approved on Jan. 31. Current Street consensus for Kalydeco sales is $6-7 million but most investors expect and want to see actual reported sales beat easily.